Polluted air, so what?

PHE 2^!^. 2 P777

STATE LIBRARY OF PENNSYLVANIA

POLLUTED AIR - SO WHAT?

So you breathe — dirt?

Besides being unpleasant, polluted
air may help cause diseases such
as lung cancer, chronic bronchitis,
asthma and hay fever.

So you repaint your house — too often?

Polluted air soon soils clean paint.
Some kinds of pollution may even
cause paint to peel, chip or change
color.

So your clothing is — gray or spotted?

Many a housewife sees her clean
laundry become dirty and stained from
polluted air.

So your town is — losing businesses, in-
dustries, and people?

No one wants to stay in, or move into,
a place with dirty air.

So your sky is blue — or always gray?

Is your sky gray even when there
aren’t any clouds? Have you forgotten
what a clear blue sky looks like?

So your car is — covered with soot?

Enjoy washing your car often?

So your property is worth — much less?

People don’t like to buy property
which shows the effects of air pol-
lution.

So your air smells — bad?

Ugh.

WHAT DOES POLLUTED AIR LOOK
LIKE?

It comes in many shapes and dis-
guises. Air pollution can be smoke, fly-
ash and dusts. You may not even be able
to see it. Sometimes it can be smelled.
It can also be as silent and tricky as
gases, vapors and fumes.

HOW IS YOUR AIR POLLUTED?

Dirty air comes from:

Homes —

• burning leaves and trash in the yard

• poorly working heating units

• house and apartment incinerators
Cities and Towns —

• garbage dumps

• incinerators
Industries —

• smoke, flyash and gases from burning
of fuel

• dust from mining, milling and quarrying

% gases, odors, vapors, and fumes from
mineral industries, chemical plants,
food processing plants, and other in-
dustrial processes

Transportation —

• exhausts from cars and trucks
Nature —

• ragweed pollen
forest fires

Farming —

• dusts from fields

• spraying of pesticides

• chaff from harvesting

THE PROBLEM IS SERIOUS.

We all know the population is growing
fast, especially around the cities. This
means more people — more cars — more
industries — more burning of waste ma-
terials — more trash and garbage — and
more dirty air.

CAN ANYTHING BE DONE ABOUT
POLLUTED AIR?

Yes.

The state-wide Air Pollution Commis-
sion was established by the Pennsyl-
vania Air Pollution Control Act.

This Commission’s rules and regula-
tions help control air pollution in the
State and are enforced by the Pennsyl-
vania Department of Health.

To work with people at the local
level, the Air Pollution Control Act pro-
vided for the formation of Regional Air
Pollution Control Associations.

WHAT DOES THE AIR POLLUTION
COMMISSION DO?

The Commission:

• makes rules and regulations which
help stop and control air pollution.

• gives orders to reduce or stop
polluting the air.

• hears complaints and appeals.

The Commission is made up of five
governmental members and six public
members.

WHAT DOES THE PENNSYLVANIA
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH DO?

Besides enforcing the rules of the
Air Pollution Commission, the Department
of Health, through its Division of Air
Pollution Control:

• checks on complaints of air pol-
lution.

% complains of pollution itself when
necessary and asks for corrective
action.

• locates and measures the amount
of air pollution and plans ways
to correct it.

• educates people about air pol-
lution.

• helps you to prevent or control
air pollution.

• gives advice to the Air Pollution
Commission, to the regional asso-
ciations and to local communities.

WHAT DO THE REGIONAL
ASSOCIATIONS DO?

The regional associations:

# help you solve air pollution prob-
lems and complaints in your
neighborhood.

# recommend rules and regulations
to control air pollution to the Air
Pollution Commission.

Each association is made up of a
representative of labor, a representative
of industry, a county commissioner and
representatives of each county in the
region it serves.

WHAT CAN YOU, AS AN INDIVIDUAL,
DO ABOUT AIR POLLUTION?

You can do a lot. It can mean the
difference between clean and polluted air.

• Give your leaves, garbage and
trash to a refuse collector and ask
your neighbors to do the same.
Stop backyard burning.

• Keep your home furnace in good
repair, so that it works well. Don’t
send your fuel money up the chim-
ney in smoke.

• Keep your car in good running
shape. You get more miles to the
gallon with a well-tuned car, and
at the same time cut down on air
pollution.

• Pull out, cut or spray ragweed in
the backyard to help prevent hay
fever. Ask your neighbors to help.

• Report any air pollution to your
local health department or to the
regional air pollution control en-
gineer nearest your town (see list-
ing on the last page).

• Help community and state officials
in their work to keep your air
clean.

WHAT CAN INDUSTRIES DO ABOUT
AIR POLLUTION?

Industry can do a great deal. It can:

0 Use modern, efficient air pollution
control equipment to trap pollu-
tants before they go into the air.

# Make less pollution by changing
production methods.

• Tell people about your work to
control or stop polluting the air.

WHAT CAN YOUR COMMUNITY DO
ABOUT AIR POLLUTION?

Your town or city can:

• Use landfill areas to get rid of
trash and garbage, instead of
burning it in open fires.

• Adopt local laws to control the
sources of air pollution.

• Start ragweed control programs.

WHERE CAN YOU GO FOR HELP
ABOUT AIR POLLUTION?

Contact the regional air pollution con-
trol engineer in the Pennsylvania De-
partment of Health regional office nearest
you (see listing of regional offices and
the counties they serve).

YOU PAY MORE FOR AIR POLLUTION
THAN FOR AIR POLLUTION CONTROL.

WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?

PUT UP WITH IT?

REGIONAL OFFICES

Region I

383 Wyoming Avenue
Kingston, Pa. 18704

Phone: 717-288-6474

Counties served: Columbia, Lackawanna,
Luzerne, Monroe, Pike, Susquehanna,
Wayne, Wyoming.

Region II

Harry Schwab Building — 2nd Floor
734 West Fourth Street
Williamsport, Pa. 17701

Phone: 717-323-3746

Counties served: Bradford, Cameron,
Centre, Clearfield, Elk, Clinton, Lycom-
ing, McKean, Potter, Tioga, Sullivan.

Region III

996 South Main Street
Meadville, Pa. 16335

Phone: 814-336-1191

Counties served: Armstrong, Beaver, But-
ler, Clarion, Crawford, Frie, Forest,
Indiana, Jefferson, Lawrence, Mercer,
Venango, Warren.

Region IV

505 Pittsburgh State Office Building
300 Liberty Avenue
Pittsburgh, Pa. 15222

Phone: 412-391-2100

Counties served: Allegheny, Fayette,
Greene, Somerset, Washington, Westmore-
land.

REGIONAL OFFICES (Continued)

Region V

29 Chestnut Street
P. O. Box 829
Lewistown, Pa. 17044

Phone; 717-248-6785

Counties served; Adams, Bedford, Blair,
Cambria, Cumberland, Franklin, Fulton,
Huntingdon, Juniata, Mifflin, Perry, York.

Region VI

401 Buttonwood Street
'’^est Reading, Pa. 19602

Phone; 215-373-5175

Counties served; Berks, Carbon, Dauphin,
Lancaster, Lebanon, Lehigh, Montour,
Northampton, Northumberland, Schuylkill,
Snyder, Union.

Region VII

Philadelphia State Office Building
1400 West Spring Garden Street
Philadelphia, Pa. 19130

Phone; 215—568—4000

Counties served; Bucks, Chester, Dela-
ware, Montgomery, Philadelphia.

Pennsylvania Department of Health
P. 0. Box 90
Harrisburg, Pa. 17101

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